Apparatus for continuously cleaning railroad track ballast



P. ALLEMANN May 7, 1957 APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING RAILROADTRACK BALLAST 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 10, 1953 INVLNTOR PAUL AL E ANBYKm ATToRNEY May 1957 P. ALLEMANN 2,791,410

APPARATUSFOR CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING RAILROAD TRACK BALLAST Filed Dec. 10,1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN O PAUL AHEMAN v BY WIPOWMJM Kw..

ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CLEANINGRAILROAD TRACK BALLAST Paul Allemann, Renens, Switzerland, assignor toMaterial Industriel S. A., Lausanne, Switzerland, and ConstructionsMecaniques S. A., Renens, Switzerland, jointly Application December 10,1953, Serial No. 397,368

Claims priority, application Switzerland June 17, 1953 3 Claims. (Cl.262-2) The present invention relates to a screening car for continuouslycleaning track ballast.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of theabove character which is of improved sturdy construction; which isflexible so that the ballast can be completely or partially removed fromthe track and can be returned to the road bed in varying mixtures andproportions; and which is simple to adjust and to operate.

In carrying out my invention I provide a car which includes an endlessdigging chain equipped with digging shovels and arranged in the form ofa loop disposed in a plane inclined no more than approximately 45 withrespect to the ground. The endless digging chain is arranged in atriangle whose base is disposed at the leading end. The ballastmaterials removed by the digging chain follow a path arranged in theform of a figure eight due to the fact that the chain elevates it into ahopper through which it is discharged onto a lifting conveyor beltinclined in a direction opposite to that of the inclined plane in whichthe chain moves. The conveyor belt also cuts across the loop formed bythe conveyor belt in the vicinity of the apex of the triangle and at itshighest point it discharges through a hopper onto a vibrating screenallowing for a plurality of screening sizes. The screened material isfed substantially parallel to the lifting conveyor belt, but in anopposite direction, to a device that grades or mixes the sizesthusscreened. The fine and unusable material passes through thevibrating screen onto an ejecting conveyor which is designed to feed itto the front of the car where it is suitably discharged.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view, partially diagrammatic, of the complete car;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, on a slightly larger scale, withportions omitted for purposes of clarity;

Fig. 3 is an end view thereof showing a portion only of the diggingchain elements;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged exploded view of the end of the screen throughwhich the screened ballast is discharged to be returned to the track,showing a modified arrangement for shifting the distributor belt;

Fig. 5 is a detailed view showing the lower distributing conveyor beltwhich may be used to distribute the screened ballast automatically overthe whole width of the track with the modified arrangement of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 shows a portion of the details in Fig. 4 with the trap door inanother position;

Fig. 7 is a detailed plan view of the'lower end of the screen showingthe distributor spout; and

Fig. 8 shows an adjustable locking device for adjusting the height ofthe digging chain cable driven crosswise beneath the track.

The car, which is shown in full in Fig. l and partially in Fig. 2,consists of a frame I mounted on two trucks 2 and 3. It may be of anydesired length, preferably the length of a standard car so that it maybe coupled in any train make-up. Alsothe car may be supported on twoaxles only rather than on the trucks 2 and 3.

"" 2,791,410 Cfi Patented May 7, 1957 The frame supports all the devicesneeded to pick up the ballast, to screen it, to return it immediatelybehind the position from which it was removed and, finally, to rejectthe unusable material.

The ballast, which is shown at 4, is picked up by an endless diggingchain carrying digging shovels 5 and forming a practicallytriangular-shaped loop moving in an inclined plane within guides 6,forming an angle of no more than approximately 45 with the ground. Forthis purpose I found that an angle of approximately 30 is perfect.

The removal of the ballast is etfected along a base 7 of thistriangularly arranged chain which passes beneath the track 8 andconstitutes the apex of the dihedral angle formed by the plane of thechain and the ground. The ballast thus picked up is carried in thedirection shown by the arrow 9 in Fig. 2 to a pulley 10 which forms thevertex of the triangle and the highest point of the chain, from which itfalls into hopper 11.

The digging chain may be driven by suitable means such as individualmotor 12.

From hopper 11 the ballast falls onto a lifting conveyor belt 13 drivenby individual motor 14 and inclined almost like the digging chain but inthe opposite direction and in such a way as to cut across the loopformed by the latter.

The ballast to be cleaned is thus brought to a second hopper 15occupying the highest point of the car reached by said ballast andlocated in front of the digging point 7 with respect to the direction ofmovement of the assembly shown by arrow 16.

From this hopper 15 the materials to be cleaned normally fall onto thescreen 17, located underneath belt 13, running practically parallel tothe latter -but carrying the screened products backward to a point closebehind the digging point, where they can drop by means of a hopper 18and other elements which will be described hereinafter in greaterdetail.

It will thus be seen that the ballast, between its pickup and its returnto place in the immediate vicinity of the spot from which it was taken,goes through a figure eight circuit starting from the ground and forminga first loop in passing through hopper 11 and being picked up by liftingconveyor belt 13, and a second loop when it is lifted by the latter tohopper 15, then dropping back onto the ground almost at the startingpoint by passing through screen 17 and hopper 18.

It will be noted that screen 17 is a double one with a pair of screens,17a and 17b, arranged in spaced parallel relationship. The screenassembly rejects the largest size stones through its upper plane at 17a,which is of relatively coarser mesh, and average size stones through itslower plane at 17 b, which is of relatively finer mesh, finally droppingthe fine and unusable material onto the ejecting conveyor belt 19 whichcarries it to hopper 2t). Conveyor belt 19 may be driven by individualmotor 21.

At the front of the car there is articulated a discharging conveyor belt22 driven by individual motor 23 and designed to remove the materialrejected by hopper 20. The inclination of this belt can be adjusted bymeans of cable suspension 24 and crank 25. Due to vertical pivot 26, thebelt can also be kept in the axis of the track 8 or moved laterally, asshown in the plan view of Fig. 2, so as to be able to load the materialto be removed onto cars located on a parallel track or to be able, ifnecessary, to reject it onto the ground near the track onto a slope, forexample.

Instead of crank 25 other suitable operating means, such as a motor, maybe employed.

As can be seen, each of the conveyor belts as well as the digging chainhas its individual motor. The same will be true of the screen, which isof the vibrating type supported by springs and driven by a cam which,

3 in turn, is operated by a motor (not shown in order to avoidovercrowding the drawing).

There are also other individual motors, at 27 for example, for operatingdistributing conveyor belt 28, referred to hereinafter, and at 29 foroperating a winch 30, or even one or more motors that will enable thecar to be self-propelled.

All these motors are controlled from a panel situated in a cabinet 31and they can be fed either by an outside current source or by agenerating unit which can be placed on the platform 32, in front ofcabinet 31, thus making the car absolutely independent.

The advancing of the car during the screening operation is efiiected bymeans or" winch 30 and its cable 33, whose free end is attached to thecar after passing over a pulley 34, which has been anchored to track 8by suitable means such as shown in Fig. 2.

We shall now review the operations of digging, screening, grading andreturning the cleaned ballast to its place, describing the differentarrangements that are particularly interesting in the equipment of thecar shown.

As has been pointed out, the digging chain forms a relatively acutedihedral angle with the ground, and it can be seen that it scoops outthe ballast by advancing against the latter with the edge consisting ofthe horizontal transverse blade located at 7.

This arrangement guarantees great rigidity, unlike, for example, diggingchains of the type heretofore used which move in a vertical transversframe.

The depth at which the transverse digging blade will scoop out theballast can be regulated by means of handwheels 35, which make itpossible to act on a locking screw, thus raising or lowering the blade.

Fig. 8 shows in detail one of these handwheels and the articulatedattachments 36 by which each of them is connected to the bottomtransverse blade support of the chain. This figure shows, at 37a,. asmall cam-type looking lever which acts on a tightening flange 37b forthe purpose of locking the assembly at the work height selected, at apressure, however, that can be overcome by an unusual force so that thetransverse blade can be raised if it should run into unusually strongresistance. In order to prevent this slipping while the blade is beingthrust into the ballast by means of handwheel 35, a hook 38a, whichpenetrates a cut-out circular flange 38b, makes it possible to lock itaxially.

Figs. 1 and 2 also show, at 39, the blade portion generally used in thiskind of arrangement, which is intended to retain the ballast that thedigging shovels have a tendency to push laterally before them.

The plan view of Fig. 2 also shows the articulations 40 of the diggingchain guide, which are necessary because of the fact that its activeblade 7 can be shifted transversely on either side of the track inorder, for example, to be able to avoid an obstacle such as the base ofa signal or other track installation.

The chain guide is attached to the car frame by a cable 41 passing overtwo pulleys 42 and whose ends are each attached in the vicinity of thelower end of one of the triangular-shaped branches formed by theseguides. This arrangement is an advantageous one in that it permits thelateral movement of the active part while providing a very strongattachment of the assembly in order to withstand the stresses resultingfrom the advancing ofthe chain against the material to be removed. 7 Theballast, having been extracted and lifted by the chain, then falls, ashas already been explained, into hopper 11 and from there onto alifting-conveyor belt 13 over which, after completing the first loop, itreaches hopper and is there again discharged.

At that spot there are two possibilities, due to the fact that thishopper contains an articulated trap-door 43, capable of occupying twopositions.

In. the position shown in Fig. 1, trap-door 43 leads the ballast ontothe screen. By reversing its position, i. e.,

4 by turning it clockwise with respect to the drawing, it will be seenthat all of the ballast will be discharged directly onto ejectingconveyor belt 19.

In that case all of the material would be discharged by hopper 20 ontodischarging conveyor belt 22 to be removed from the track.

The above arrangement of the parts would result in complete removal ofthe ballast from the road bed rather than cleaning and restoring it toits original position. Under certain circumstances it would beappreciated that complete removal of the ballast is desirable. Normally,however, trap-door 43 will occupy the position shown.

In this case, the ballast will be dumped from hopper 15 onto screenassembly 17 and Will partly pass through the two stages and come outagain at 17a and 17b and the finest material will drop onto ejectingbelt 19.

The materials leaving the screen at 17a will be the largest, those thathave not passed through any mesh in the screen. Those leaving the screenat 17b will be smaller and those falling onto ejecting conveyor belt 19will be the material that is too fine to be used. This rejected materialis then removed, as has just been described, through hopper 20 anddischarging conveyor belt 22.

Now, examining Fig. 4 more closely, we see that the usable materialswhich leave the screen normally drop into a hopper 18. The latter,however, has a hinged trap-door 44 which, in the position shown in Fig.4, discharges the materials onto the distributing conveyor belt 28 whichcarries them a little farther towards the rear of the car in thedirection shown by the arrow in Fig. 4.

This distributing conveyor belt is hinged at 45, which enables it tomove laterally between the extreme positions 28' and 28" of Fig. 2.

In the form shown in Fig. 1 these lateral movements can be made manuallyby means of a winch 46. In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 it is a motor47 which effects this movement. This movement can be made automatic, asshown, in that support 48 of conveyor belt 28, sliding along atransverse rail 49, is moved by a cable 50 which is driven by a motor47, while endof-travel reversing contacts 51 automatically reverse thedirection of rotation of the motor so as to obtain a toand-fro movement,distributing the ballast over the whole width of the track and its ties.

If trap-door 44 is placed in the direction shown in Fig. 6, the cleanedballast will drop back as closely as possible behind th position fromwhich it was extracted, by distributing plate 52.

This plate can also be seen in the plan view of Fig. 7 and it should benoted that it extends over the whole width of the track and its ties,therefore making it possible to spread out the treated ballast.

Up to this point we have spoken of a mixture of coarser ballast (comingfrom 17a) and finer ballast (coming from 171)). It is seen thateverything which leaves the screen, except for unusable material,normally drops into hopper 18 or onto plate 52 or, with trap-door 44raised, only onto plate 52.

It should be noted, however, that two' vertical swinging trap-doors 53and 54 are attached to the front of the distributing spout at the upperpart 17a of screen 17.

When the two trap doors are placed in the position shown for singletrap-door 53, all of the coarse material will be discharged from thescreen into hopper 18.

On the other hand, when the two trap-doors are arranged in the positionshown for the single trap-door 54, all the coarse material will bedischarged beyond the hopper onto distributing plate 52.

Finally, the trap-doors may be arranged in approximately intermediatepositions which will make it possible to mix and distribute thetwo sizesof ballast obtained in all desired proportions. Also, in addition, whenthe trap-doors 53 and 54' are thus arranged. in intermediate positions,they will cause, in cooperation with trap-door 44, a portion of thematerials to be discharged immediately behind the excavation and anotherportion :to be discharged farther back by distributing conveyor 28.

As can be seen, the arrangement adopted is extremely flexible,permitting all possible combinations.

The car that has just been described offers still other advantages.

As has already been pointed out, it carries all the facilities necessaryand suflicient for the work to be performed on a chassis or frame whoselength is not out of proportion since it can easily be cut down to thelength of a standard car.

It is possible by means of my invention to return the cleaned ballast toa point immediately behind the excavated portion so that there neverwill be more than an extremely short section of track which isunsupported by ballast.

Furthermore, the car is very stable and particularly free from sidevibration since the vibrating screen runs axially and not transversely,as is generally the case.

Since the axles may be driving axles, the car can be self-propelled, ifdesired.

The cleaning operation will, furthermore, be performed in a very simplemanner, as shown in Fig. l, by shifting ties for some distance ahead ofthe car and as the latter advances, so that each third tie 55, forexample, will rest on the ballast. The track is thus raised a sufiicientheight, approximately 5 to 7 inches, and is sufficiently supported sothat the car can proceed along the track without the slightest trouble.

The ties are then put back in place immediately behind the digging chainand as soon as the leveling-grading device 56 has lightly tamped thesurface of the freshlyrestored ballast.

Since it may at times be necessary, or at least advisable, to lightenthe load for a while on the front truck, which is required to roll onthe raised track, there is a small extra truck 57 which rolls on fourrollers and which can be placed under the frame at the very frontthereof. It can be provided with threaded rods which form a jack andthus make it possible to regulate at will the load carried by the fourrollers which, if necessary, can even take the full load off truck 2.

The distance between the digging point and the rear truck 3 is,moreover, more than sufficient to enable the track to settle on theballast and the restored ties without warping. This truck will then rollalong a normally settled track and the operating conditions can readilybe such that the track will be restored to its initial height withoutfurther ado unless it is desired to lower it slightly.

It is obvious that the load on the rear axle can also be shared by asmall extra truck, as has been proposed at 57 for the front one.

It is obvious that any other suitable method of raising the track moreor less can be used, depending on the need and the case involved.

Instead of providing a generating unit on the car, the latter could,naturally, also be accompanied by a generator that would feed it currentand by means of which the load could also be removed from truck 3 byraising frame 1 with tackle blocks mounted on this auxiliary car.

it is also obvious that winch 39 makes it possible to work just as wellwith a single cable, whose free end would be anchored to the track,rather than with a double cable passing over a pulley such as 34.

The arrangement shown has the advantage of doubling the power developedby the winch.

in both cases there is, for example, the possibility of a forwardmovement that can vary from approximately 35 to 225 yards per hour,particularly by means of a speed control device that could accompany thewinch motor 29.

It is to be understood that the embodiment of the in- 6 ventiondescribed above is merely illustrative and not limited to the scope ofthis invention which may be variously otherwise constituted within thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for continuously cleaning railroad track ballastcomprising: a supporting railroad car cooperable to ride on the trackwhose ballast is to be cleaned; an endless digging chain supported onsaid car and having a plurality of scoops mounted thereon and arrangedin a generally triangular loop with the base of the triangle locatedbeneath the car and facing towards the leading end with respect to thedirection of movement of the car and with the apex facing towards thetrailing end, said triangular loop being disposed in a plane inclinedupwardly and rearwardly from the base to the apex at an angle of no morethan 45 to the ground, said base serving as the digging point and thescoops that are located there-along being cooperable to receive ballastmaterial from the road bed of the track on which the car is disposed andthen carry it upwardly and rearwardly to the apex of the triangle; aconveyor mounted on said car and inclined in a direction opposite tothat of the plane of the digging chain and intersecting the loop formedby the chain with the lower end of the conveyor disposed beneath theapex of the triangular loop so as to receive ballast material from thescoops of the digging chain and convey it forwardly and upwardly at anangle; a vibrating screen assembly mounted on said car and disposedbeneath the forward end of the conveyor so as to receive the ballastmaterial conveyed thereon and inclining downwardly and rearwardlytherefrom, said screen assembly having a plurality of screens ofdifferent sizes for separating the ballast material into components ofdifferent sizes; rejecting means mounted on said car for receiving thefinest components from the screen assembly and for conveying them toanother portion of the car for ultimate rejection; distributing meansfor receiving other components from said screen assembly and for gradingthem and returning them to the road bed at a position behind the diggingpoint wherein the distributing means comprises a hopper located adjacentthe discharge end of the screen assembly, a distributing plate extendingfor the whole width of the track communicating with the hopper and aconveyor belt mounted on the railroad car and extending rearwardly fromthe outlet end of the hopper.

2. Apparatus for continuously cleaning railroad track ballastcomprising: a supporting railroad car cooperable to ride on the trackwhose ballast is to be cleaned; an endless digging chain supported onsaid car and having a plurality of scoops mounted thereon and arrangedin a generally triangular loop with the base of the triangle locatedbeneath the car and facing towards the leading end with respect to thedirection of movement of the car and with the apex facing towards thetrailing end, said triangular loop being disposed in a plane inclinedupwardly and rearwardly from the base to the apex at an angle of no morethan 45 to the ground, said base serving as the digging point and thescoops that are located there-along being cooperable to receive ballastmaterial from the road bed of the track on which the car is disposed andthen carry it upwardly and rearwardly to the apex of the triangle; aconveyor mounted on said car and inclined in a direction opposite tothat of the plane of the digging chain and intersecting the loop formedby the chain with the lower end of the conveyor disposed beneath theapex of the triangular loop so as to receive ballast material from thescoops of the digging chain and convey it forwardly and upwardly at anangle; a vibrating screen assembly mounted on said car and disposedbeneath the forward end of the conveyor so as to receive the ballastmaterial conveyed thereon and inclining downwardly and rearwardlytherefrom, said screen assembly having a plurality of screens ofdifferent sizes for separating the ballast material into. components ofdifferent sizes; rejecting means. mounted on said ear for receiving thefinest components from.v the screen assembly" and for conveying them toanother portion of the car for ultimate rejection; distributing meansfor receivingother components from. said screen assembly and for gradingthem and return them to the road bed at a position behind the diggingpoint wherein the distributing means includes a hopper mounted at thedischarge end of the screen assembly to receive components there from, adistributing plate extending for the entire width. of the trackcommunicating both with the discharge end of the screen assembly andwith the hopper, and a conveyor belt mounted on the railroad car andextending rearwardly from the discharge end of the hopper and. in whichthe screen assembly includes adjustable discharge means for one size ofthe component for directing that size component to the distributingplate alone or to the hopper and conveyor belt alone or to both.

3. Apparatus for continuously cleaning railroad track ballastcomprising: a supporting railroad car cooperable to ride on the trackwhose ballast is to be cleaned; an endless digging chain supported onsaid car and having a plurality of scoops mounted thereon and arrangedin a generally triangular loop with the base of the triangle locatedbeneath the car and facing towards the leading end with respect to thedirection of movement of the car and with the apex facing towards thetrailing end, said triangular loop being disposed in a plane inclinedupwardly and rearwardly from the base to the apex at an angle of no morethan 45 to the ground, said base serving as the digging point and thescoops that are located therealong being cooperable to receive ballastmaterial from the road bed of the track on Which the car is disposed andthen carry it upwardly and rearwardly to the apex of the triangle; aconveyor mounted on said car and inclined in a direction opposite tothat of the plane of the digging chain and intersecting the loop formedby the chain with the lower end .of the conveyor di pose beneath theapex .of the triangular loop so as to receive ballast material from thescoops of the digging chain and convey it forwardly and upwardly at anangle; a vibrating screen assembly mounted on said car and disposedbeneath the forward end of the conveyor so as to receive the ballastmaterial conveyed thereon and inclining downwardly and .rearwardl-ytherefrom, said screen assembly having .a plurality .of screens ofdifferent sizes for separating the ballast material into components ofdifferent sizes; rejecting means mounted on said car for receiving thefinest components from the screen assembly and for conveying them toanother portion of the car for ultimate rejection; distributing meansfor receiving other components from said screen assembly and for gradingthem and returning them to the road bed at a position behind the diggingpoint wherein the distributing means includes a hopper mounted at thedischarge end of the screen assembly to receive components therefrom andhaving two discharge outlets, a distributing plate extending for theentire width of the track mounted adjacent one discharge outlet of thehopper to receive material therefrom, a conveyor belt mounted adjacentthe other discharge outlet of the hopper to receive material therefrom,and means for closing one or the other of said outlets.

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